Engineering manager salary in Washington, DC
Employers in the Washington metro offered engineering managers a median of $178,400 a year on approved H-1B applications. That is 9.5% above the US median for engineering managers, and 33.5% above offers to software engineers in Washington.
Median offer
$178,400
US median offer: $162,951
The middle half
$158,926 – $212,171
25th to 75th percentile
After cost of living
$163,840
Washington prices: 8.9% above US average
Open engineering manager jobs
25
In Washington, DC, from 15 companies
Pay range
The top 10% of engineering manager offers in Washington were above $243,214 a year. The bottom 10% were below $140,837.
10th percentile $140,837, 25th $158,926, 75th $212,171, 90th $243,214.
10th percentile $110,094, 25th $126,818, 75th $208,535, 90th $250,000.
10th percentile $96,450, 25th $123,720, 75th $176,230, 90th $213,660.
Line: 10th to 90th percentile. Box: the middle half (25th to 75th). Dark mark: the median. Engineering managers: salaries offered on H-1B applications. All software engineers: salaries paid, from the BLS.
How far the pay goes in Washington
Prices in Washington are 8.9% above the US average, which makes the median offer worth $163,840 in US-average dollars. Housing costs 51.1% more than the US average.
Black line: US average = 100. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024.
Engineering managers and other engineering jobs in Washington
Median salary offered on approved H-1B applications in the Washington metro, for every engineering job type with at least 30 applications.
| Job | Applications | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering managers | 206 | $178,400 |
| Machine learning engineers | 30 | $154,460 |
| All software engineers | 3,135 | $133,593 |
| AI engineers | 46 | $126,750 |
| Cloud engineers | 44 | $126,090 |
| Data engineers | 248 | $126,090 |
| DevOps engineers | 126 | $126,090 |
| Frontend engineers | 40 | $126,090 |
| Support engineers | 96 | $108,020 |
All software engineers: every application filed under the BLS software developer job code, whatever its title. Backend and full-stack engineers: left out, since a plain "Software Engineer" title counts as both.
Experience level of these offers
From October 2025 to June 2026, the Department of Labor approved 206 H-1B applications for engineering managers in the Washington metro, from 70 employers. Level IV offers were the most common.
Applications
206
Employers
70
Most experienced (Level IV)
49.5%
Applications by wage level
- Level I (entry): 4
- Level II: 23
- Level III: 56
- Level IV (most experienced): 102
- Not stated: 21
These are salaries offered on approved applications, not salaries paid. Each application lists only its main work site.
25 open engineering manager jobs in Washington, DC right now
From 15 companies. 1 was posted in the past week.
What counts as an engineering manager
The BLS has no category for managers of software engineers alone, so these figures come from job titles. An H-1B application or a job on hiredaemon counts as an engineering manager job when its title names managing engineers, such as "Engineering Manager", "Software Development Manager" or "Director of Engineering".
Sources and notes
- Engineering manager offers: US Department of Labor, H-1B application data, October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Approved H-1B applications whose job title names managing engineers and whose work site is in one of the metro area's 23 counties.
- Software engineer pay: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published May 15, 2026), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro.
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Open jobs: counted on hiredaemon as this page loads.